Death is a staple of Nicholas Sparks romances, and that’s as true as ever in his latest movie adaptation The Best of Me. This time, the Grim Reaper conveniently provides an excuse to bring two high school sweethearts back together.

Rich girl Amanda (Michelle Monaghan) and wrong-side-of-the-tracks boy Dawson (James Marsden) haven’t seen each other in twenty years when they reunite at the funeral of a mutual friend. Sparks fly, but lots of obstacles stand in their way because there would be no movie otherwise. Hit the jump to watch the first The Best of Me trailer.

When Paul Walker passed away late last year, he was at a very busy point in his career. His Hours was on the verge of opening, he’d already wrapped Brick Mansions, and he was in the middle of shooting Fast & Furious 7. He also had a few more projects lined up beyond that. One, Agent 47, went to Homeland star Rupert Friend yesterday. Now another, The Best of Me, could be taken over by James Marsden.

Michael Hoffman (most recently of the Coens-scripted Gambit) is directing the romance, based on a novel of the same title by Nicholas Sparks. Michelle Monaghan is set to co-star. Hit the jump for more details on the project.

Warner Bros. has been on a tear in the past few days, buying material for new films and/or setting up screenwriters to develop projects for the studio. After the break, we’ve got info on the following three projects, each of which is quite a bit different from the others:

The David Dobkin script Arthur & Lancelot, which (as you’d guess) is a new telling of the Arthurian legend, only with a new spin.

The new Nicholas Sparks novel, The Best of Me.

And Halo: Reach writer Peter O’Brien will rewrite the action film Line of Sight. Read More »